Ambrose Temple
In The Merlin Conspiracy, Ambrose Temple is the son of Earthmistress Sybil Temple and her mysterious departed husband, who has deserted the family long before the events of the book begin. Ambrose moves around England with his mother and older sister Alicia as part of the King's Progress, which serves on the world of Blest to keep the English kingdom safe and strong. However, both Ambrose's mother and sister are rather horrible to him, always criticizing him and trying to make him behave in a way that they consider "normal". Only the fact that another magicians' child on the Progress, Arianrhod Hyde, takes pity on Ambrose as a child and takes him under her protective wing helps to allow him to grow up with some semblance of stability. Arianrhod, who goes by the nickname "Roddie," also bestows a nickname on Ambrose, calling him Grundo, because of his low rumbling voice. Somehow it seems to fit him better than Ambrose, and he accepts it with pleasure. Visit to Gwyn ap Nydd Early in the book, Roddie is summoned to come on a visit to her mother's father in Wales. This gentleman is supposedly a preacher of some kind, but he is also a strong magical figure who leads a ghostly Hunt. Roddie doesn't quite know what to make of her grandfather Gwyn, whom her mother never really got along with. However, Ambrose finds him easy to talk to and interested in the same kinds of things that he is himself. He has a wonderful time at Grandfather Gwyn's rectory, except that at the grandfather's suggestion, the two young people go on a long hike to find something to help them fight the conspiracy, which has recently begun. On this hike, Roddie is taken over by the spirit of a dead enchantress, who pours all her knowledge of plants and flowers into Roddie's head. This gives her a wealth of new magical knowledge, but she struggles to figure out how to access and use the knowledge. Grundo feels left out and confused by the whole experience, and maybe somewhat jealous. Visit to The Dimber and Hyde Homes After spending a few days at Grandfather Gwyn's, Roddie and Grundo are sent back to the Progress, but the Conspiracy has mixed everything up, and everyone has disappeared from the place they were when the two left. They make their way first to Roddie's father's family home and meet the Dimber ladies. There they get into various kinds of trouble and can't make anyone believe their warnings of conspiracy. Then they are sent to Roddie's father's father's home, where they learn that he has just been spirited away by the Wild Hunt. They find several other people at the house, including Nick Mallory, whom Roddie has earlier met in a magical visit, and who has proised to help her. Two other cousins of Roddie, Ilsabil and Isadora Dimber ("the Izzys") show up and insist on coming along. The group then proceeds off on a journey to find the enchanter who can help them track down what has happened to the lost magicians and to find out how to fight against the conspiracy. Category:Magids characters